>I:Y FORCES. -ACOUSTICS. 



[VOICE OP REITILKS, ETC. 



clear mite, resembling the syllable kat or <-<iir, variously 

 imxliiUte.1 The noie produced by a largo flm-k, t! 

 in no degree musical, i* far from being disagreeable. 

 The jay can even learn to speak uttering, however, 

 ii,' but solitary words. They may be taught also 

 the fanfare of a trumpet, and other melodies of (ingle 

 bars, as well a* little airs, and the note* of many birds. 

 The magpie imitate* all striking sounds, and can be 

 taught to speak more easily than any other of the crow 

 tribe. The cry of the cuckoo in universally welcomed a* 

 the harbinger of spring. It* principal sound is nothing 

 but An /iu or coo-too, repeated at start interval* : when 

 i* given, however, it is found that these two 

 loud and mellow note* are preceded by a kind of 

 churring or chuckling Bound, which consists of a low 

 and guttural inflexion of the voice, during which thu 

 throat seems distended. 



Tin- |>;irrot tribe are most remarkable for their power 

 of imitating human speech. The cockatoo shrieks its 

 own name, cockatoo ; and calls loudly, in a trumpet-like 

 tone, derdtny. It acquires the cries of all animals 

 particularly those of the domestic cock and hen. II 

 rarely, however, acquires the power of articulating words. 

 There are numerous species of cockatoo parrots having 

 much the same character of voice. Among the com- 

 monest of the parrot tribe in Europe, is the ash-coloured 

 parrot. This parrot readily learns to speak, and to pipe. 

 It has not the unpleasant wild shriek of some of the 

 < it tribe. It takes no small delight in imitating the 

 voice of children ; hence children are its best instructors. 

 If its education be begun early, it will sometimes acquire 

 entire verses, and even axioms. 



The grey woodpecker has a note which resembles a 

 loud shout of laughter, whence some of its popular 

 names are derived ; this note is never varied, except by 

 it* more clamorous repetition during the spring and 

 early summer months, and by the peculiar cry, plvi, 

 /'u', /'.'in', which has been supposed to indicate the 

 approach of rain. The wryneck, iu spring, frequently 

 and loudly utters gigiyiyi, which is the call whereby it 

 attracts it* mate. The nuthatch utters a loud call, 

 which may be heard at a considerable distance, re- 

 sembling grew, deck, deck. The ring-dove, or cushat, 

 has a loud and particularly pleasing cooing, during which 

 it makes very grotesque motions, which may be back- 

 ward* and forwards, or from side to side* moving the 

 head in every direction. The turtle-dove has a peculiar 



. 1 bows its head while it is uttered. 

 Voice, of Reptile*. The sounds uttered by reptiles and 

 amphibious animals have their source in the larynx, 

 like the voice of mammals. In frogs, as well as in the 

 crocodile, there are vocal cords. In the crocodile, the 

 larynx, though more simple than in mammals, still 

 retain* something of the same character. There is one 

 large, long-shaped cartilage, to which are attached two 

 le cartilages. The mucous membrane, descending 

 from these movable cartilages into a deep pouch Ix-m-atli, 

 leave* a free fold on each side, which, when the movable 

 cartilages approximate, becomes a vocal cord. In the 

 gecko and the chameleon the vocal cords are more 

 developed than in the crocodile ; nevertheless they are 

 formed on the same plan. The lizard has an acute, 

 chirping voice, which has been supposed to depend on a 

 I-vnliar membranous fold attached to the larynx ; but it 

 really seems to depend on a vibration of the margins of 

 the glottis. In the turtle trilw there are no vocal cords, 

 ii'.r i< tln-ir larynx adapted to a perfect intonation of 

 the breat li 



In the true serpents there are no vocal cords; the 

 hisiiing sound, which constitutes their imperfect voice, is 

 a more foivibl.. breathing. In the male fro,', membra- 

 nous sac* at the side of the neck become distended in 

 the utterance of tin- voice, and servo to increase it* 

 intensity. In tin ,..i, in which the lar\ 



in all other frogs, receives the bronchi directly, without 

 "> ' nt ' f a windpi|>e, there is a large 



gim.nii IK.X, within which are two solid reed-like bodies, 

 in-srly a* long a* the larynx iteelf. The anterior ex- 

 ti ami ties of these bodiu* are fixed; their posterior 



extremity is free, and projects on each side towards the 



of the bronchus. Tin- vocal sound is ].; 



. il.r..tion> of reed- shaped i i< 1, act like 



a tuning-fork ; while in other animals of the same i-huss. 

 the parts which produce the sound are membranous. If 

 a small piece of cartilage, a few lines in length, )>e fixed 

 by one end, and a current of air be thrown from a 

 small tube iijion its edge at the other extremity, a 

 humming sound will be heard. In the A'.IIKI I'ijxt, also, 

 the movable cartilages arc con \e\ externally, and concave 

 internally ; so that when the entrance to the larynx is 



Fig. 2C. 



KAMA TKMPOBAR1A 



(CUMMOX rROo). - 



a, t'MiKue ; 6, hyotd 

 bone ; r, superior vo- 

 lt ; a, inferiol 

 vocal col dc ; r, pha- 

 rynx ; /, right bron 

 chus. 



closed, they form a dome over the 

 windpipe, which has been compared 

 to a kettle-drum. I n 1 1 1 e /.'mm tcmpo- 

 rurui, R. exulriit i. and 7.'. hylti, the 

 larynx opens into two sacs on either 

 side of the lower jaw ; and these, 

 during the cry of the animal, are 

 filled with air. (See Fig. 2ti). 



Sountls Produced by Fishes. A 

 very few fishes are known to utter 

 sounds, such as the trigla, cottus, po- 

 gonias. 



The trigla utters a grunting sound 

 when it is taken out of the water. It 

 has been supposed that the peculiar 

 muscle of the air-bladder, in these 

 animals, has a share in causing the 

 sound. The cottus, however, from 

 which a sound is heard to proceed 

 when pressure is made upon its body, 

 has no air-bladder. The pogoiiias, on 

 account of the sounds which it pro- 

 duces, has been named the tambour. 

 These fishes produce continued sounds 

 under the water. The air-bladder is 

 very large, and is covered by strong muscles; further, 

 it lias appendages, which, according to Cuvier, p:iss 

 between the ribs, and become imbedded in the n, 



Sounds produced by Insects. Most insects are mute ; 

 others produce sounds merely by friction ; others, again, 

 by the passage of air through their spiracles. The 

 sounds produced by friction come under the head of 

 stridulation; those produced by air from the spiracles, 

 purring or humming. In the orthoptera, and some of 

 the coleoptera, there are parts adapted to produce stri- 

 dulation. 



In the cricket, the muscular apparatus may be de- 

 scribed as consisting of a serrated string like a tile, which, 

 iu the movement of the wings, in drawn rapidly over a 

 firm, transparent, and nearly triangular disc, or lonnding- 

 plate, surrounded by a string ; and by this act the sound 

 is produced The pitch of the sound of the hou-e 

 cricket is very acute, being equivalent to about 4,0% 

 vibrations in a second. 



The cicudie, termed sometimes the " chantetues," or 

 singers, are so called because the males produce, in the 

 hottest part of the day, a kind of monotonous and noisy 

 music : 



"Etcantu qucrulic rumpent arbusta cicada-." Vino. 

 The music of the grasshopper has from early times 

 attracted attention. Archias sung of it ; and his verso 

 has been thus translated from the Greek : 



" Kr-t on tin- tii's ni wn jlooming brunch, O gnuuhoppcr ! 'twas thin* 

 To it or 01, ni.iy of tin- dusky, tufu-d pini- ; 



Anil from llijr hollow, wi-il- inic ti MI!, s, to ound the bly tin-Mime utrain. 

 Sweeter than music of the lj-re to the *iuiplc shepherd wain." 



Those, too, who loved these "living lyres in the olive 

 jroves, sounding all the summer long," have celebrated 

 .he locust : 



" Soother of love, cncourager of uleep, 

 O locust I my. tic nitue, ulnill willed ;" 



And the cicada : 



" Cicada I thiiu, who, tlpujr with the dew* 



Of weeping ilcie*, on tin' t .1! poplar tree 

 PVrch'd swaymgljr, thyx-lf ilol .till u 



And the hush'd gr. nwrct uiinitrelsy." 



Melanger, alluding to the buzzing of insects, say*, 

 'Excute facundiis pedibus tituluntilms alas": 

 "Striking thine own ipeaking wlnp with thy fett ;" 



